39 Hungarians in 13 sports and 68 numbers will fight for the best possible positions at the Paris Paralympics, which start on Wednesday and last until next Sunday.
"I really think that we should not go to a sports competition without wanting to win everything ," said László Szabó, president of the Hungarian Paralympic Committee (MPB), to MTI.
– I never understood when the leaders of various sports organizations and federations said "well, we're going for two golds, five places, something like that". This is sport, I want to win, right? I also want to win the running race around the house, the school championship and the Paralympics, that's the way to approach it."
According to László Szabó, this is their basic position, but of course they also know the realities.
"Until the competitions start, we want to come home with 68 gold medals. Then we'll see what happens. Obviously, there will be a lot of circumstances over which we have no influence, or there will be, but we will spoil it - he said, and then revealed what kind of performance he would be satisfied with, staying on the ground of reality.
– The sane answer to the efficiency question is that we finished in 18th place in Tokyo on the medal table, if we can achieve this, or roughly achieve this, then we will be fine, if we can go above this, it will be a great pleasure if we stay significantly below this, then it will be a little disappointing."
According to the president of the MPB, Hungarian parasport is living its golden age.
"The Paralympics is an important milestone, but it's not just about that. We have world and European champions, we will be there at the Paralympics in 13 sports, but we have also made progress in team sports, there are an unprecedented number of competitors at the swimming national championships, boccia, or kayaking. Hungarian parasport has never been as successful and well-known as it has been in these years, and we strive to make it grow. With the current Paralympics, we are trying to steel our position."
Ten of the members of the 39-person Paris team are newcomers, and two or three competitors are participating in their last Paralympics.
"I think it's a healthy mix, the number of newcomers and the fact that we're competing in 13 sports shows that we've deepened and broadened"
said László Szabó.
We can cheer for them in the coming days
(The compilation and chance analysis Mandiner )
TABLE TENNIS
Our participation in Parapingpong has a particularly long history: Hungary's first Paralympic victory was won in this sport by Zoltán Tauber in 1976. The current competitors can also be proud of their performance: at the continental tournament of para-table tennis players in September 2023 in Sheffield, Major Endre won the European championship in the MS1 category of men's sitting table tennis players, earning a ticket to the Paris Games. After the end of the qualification period, in April 2024, the International Table Tennis Association brought new good news to the Hungarians: Paralympic champion Péter Pálos and Paralympic bronze medalist Alexa Szvitacs also earned an individual quota based on their ranking. In addition, based on her performance in the doubles during the qualifying period, Zsófia Arlóy can also start at the games in singles and with Alexa Szvitacs, in women's doubles.
The Hungarian competitors: Zsófia Arlóy (Buda XI SE), Major Endre (ATSK), Péter Pálos (VSD), Alexa Szvitacs (GYAC)
ATHLETICS
The first national quota for Hungarian paraathletes was won by the Paralympic champion of the women's (T38) long jump, Luca Ekler, at the World Para-Athletics Championships in July 2023, this time by winning the silver medal in the 100-meter dash. At this year's world championship in Japan, the other athletes of the Hungarian team also performed well, thanks to which our athletic delegation in Paris was expanded by four more people: Ilona Biacsi won a bronze medal in the 1500-meter flat run (T20 category), Petra Luterán won a bronze medal in the long jump and 400-meter flat run (T47), while Bernadett Biacsi came fourth in the 1500-meter flat run (T20), and István Szőllősi took the 6th place in the shot put (F20), with which (as well as their position on the ranking list) they also qualified for the Paralympics.
The Hungarian competitors: Bernadett Biacsi (SZVSE), Ilona Biacsi (SZVSE), Luca Ekler (TFSE), Petra Luterán (Tatabánya), István Szöllősi (MTK)
BOCCIA
Two of our competitors, Alexandra Szabó and Vivien Nagy, can represent the Hungarian colors in Paris based on the information provided by the international association on June 3 and July 1. Hungarian bocce players last managed to obtain a Paralympic quota in 2008, when Dezső Béres and József Gyurkota competed; before that, in 2004, they won a bronze medal in Athens. Alexandra excelled in many international competitions in recent years, collecting a large number of individual and doubles medals. Among her most outstanding successes are the individual European championship title and silver medal in doubles won in Seville in 2021, as well as the silver medal won individually in the BC4 women's boccia field at the 2023 multisport para-European championship. Vivien also has great results: she returned home with a bronze medal from the European Championships in 2021, and she diligently collected medals at the 2023 World Cup competitions: she won a bronze medal in Portugal and a gold medal in Greece among BC2 female bocce players. Unfortunately, they cannot start in women's doubles due to their different injury categories.
The Hungarian competitors: Vivien Nagy (Merek SE), Alexandra Szabó (PTE-PEAC)
POWER LIFTING
Based on the information provided by the international association on June 28, our country obtained an individual quota in para powerlifting for the Paralympics in Paris. Based on this, Nándor Tunkel, the bronze medalist of the Rio Games, can once again prove himself among the best on the bench press, in the men's -49 kg field. Nándor last competed on June 20, at the World Cup in Tbilisi, where he won a bronze medal with his sensational 163 kg push and set a new Hungarian record.
The Hungarian competitor: Nándor Tunkel (Power Ozi SE)
ARCHERY
Tamás Gáspár, currently the only Hungarian representing para-archery in the international field, won the bronze medal at the August 2023 multisport para-European championship with an impressive performance. Prior to this, Tamás also competed in the Paralympic quota competition, in which he did not find a winner, thus earning another quota for our country, and then he took 6th place at last year's European Championships in Rome.
The Hungarian competitor: Tamás Gáspár (MESE SE)
JUDO
Based on the information provided by the International Sports Association for the Visually Impaired on July 17, Flóra Burányi earned the right to start in the J1 field of women's judokas. Judo is a sport for the visually impaired at the Paralympics, in which athletes who are blind (J1) or visually impaired (J2) compete against each other in different weight groups. Flóra Burányi takes to the tatami mat in the -57 kg weight group of the former category in the French capital. Flóra qualified for the 2016 Rio Games after a bronze medal at the 2013 European Championship and a seventh place at the 2014 World Championship, where she also finished seventh. The excellent judoka was unable to compete for a long time due to an injury, but after successful rehabilitation, he returned to the international arena with a European bronze medal in 2023: he won the Hungarian delegation's first medal at the multisport para-European championship.
The Hungarian competitor: Flóra Burányi (Rákosvidéki Hajtós DSE)
KAYAK-CANOE
Our team excelled at the Duisburg Kayak-Canoe World Championship in August 2023, collecting four national quotas with their great performance. At the integrated World Cup, the Paralympic champion Péter Pál Kiss defended his world championship title, thereby collecting his fourth World Cup first place and another Paralympic quota in the KL1 200 meter event for men's kayakers. Katalin Varga also won a medal and a quota in the women's kayakers' KL2 200-meter event. Former Paralympic silver medalist Róbert Suba's fourth place in the men's canoe VL2 200 meters also earned him a Paris quota. One of the surprise players of the Hungarian national team, Nikoletta Molnár, fought hard in the KL3 200 meters, and thanks to her performance, she finished in the fifth place in last year's world championships. The 2024 WC held in Szeged also held surprises and successes for the Hungarians: Tibor Kiss made it to the finals in the men's kayak KL2 200-meter race, thereby securing his place in Paris. A few days after the competition, the information from the international federation arrived, according to which, based on her performance at the World Cup and her position in the world rankings, Dalma Boldizsár also earned the right to go to Paris among women's canoeists and kayakers. Thus, our kayaks and canoes can represent the national colors in the French capital with a large team of six people. This year's European Championships, also organized in Hungary, proved to be the last big test of strength before the Paralympics, where Katalin Varga defended her European championship title, and Róbert Suba was able to stand on the podium in both the kayak and canoe events.
The Hungarian competitors: Dalma Boldizsár (MVM-Szeged), Péter Pál Kiss (BHSE), Tibor Kiss (MERKAPT Merkel SE), Nikoletta Molnár (AVSE), Róbert Suba (MVM-Szeged), Katalin Varga (MVM-Szeged)
WHEELCHAIR Fencing
Our wheelchair fencers consistently performed brilliantly in the world competitions of the qualification period, thanks to which, based on the decision of World Abilitysport (WAS) on June 7th, 6 of our fencers can represent the national colors in Paris: the defending Paralympic champion Veres Amarilla, the twelve-time Paralympic medalist Zsuzsanna Krajnyák, the Paralympic silver and bronze medalists Richárd Osváth and Éva Hajmási, the team bronze medalist in Tokyo, madarászné dr. Boglárka Mező and István Tarjányi, who is preparing for his second Paralympics. In addition to the individual competitors, we will also be able to support the women's dagger and dueling team in the French capital.
The Hungarian competitors: Éva Hajmási (Törekvés SE), Zsuzsanna Krajnyák (Törekvés SE), Boglárka Mező (Törekvés SE), Richárd Osváth (DEAC), István Tarjányi (Nyíregyháza), Veres Amarilla (UTE)
BICYCLE
Our para-cyclists also performed well in the points-scoring competitions of the past years, as a result of which, under the leadership of Zsombor Wermeser, they were among the first to obtain a quota at the Paralympics. For a long time there was hope for an additional national quota, but unfortunately we did not receive it in the end.
The Hungarian competitor: Zsombor Wermeser (Kecskemét Első Sor SE)
RIDING
Grand Prix riders could collect qualification points for Paris until December 31, 2023. After that, the international association issued a statement about the contestants in Paris at the beginning of March: based on their information, an individual dressage rider can represent our country in the French capital.
the qualification scoring, dr. Ildikó Fonyódi (CPEDI Grade 5 category), sneered. With his great performance, he finished in the top of several international
competitions and stood on the podium on numerous occasions. With this, for the first time in twenty years, we can compete again for dressage at the Paralympics: the last time at the 2004 Athens Games, Bernadett Andics and Béla Sándor represented the Hungarian colors in dressage.
The Hungarian competitor: Dr. Ildikó Fonyódi (Pandora LSE)
SPORTS SHOOTING
The first domestic quota was obtained by Csaba Rescsik. The young sports shooter has set junior world records several times in recent years, and the Paralympic quota was represented by his silver medal in the R1 air rifle 10-meter standing competition at the World Cup competition held in Chateauroux in the summer of 2022. A few months later, the Paralympic bronze medalist Krisztina Dávid brilliantly won bronze medals at the World Championships in P2 10-meter women's air pistol SH1 and P3 Mixed 25-meter sports pistol SH1, thanks to which she further increased the number of national quotas for our country. According to the information of the International Paralympic Committee on July 9, our country is entitled to an additional quota in the sport, the acquisition of which is attributed to Gyula Gurisatti (father of national team water polo player Gréta Gurisatti), who can now prepare for his fifth Paralympics. Our competitors also gave a sensational performance at this year's European Parasport Shooting Championships in Granada, and finally returned home with three medals and a prestigious 9th place from the continental competition, which was their last big test of strength before Paris.
The Hungarian competitors: Krisztina Dávid (BHSE), Csaba Rescsik (Cél-Tudat SE), Gyula Gurisatti (Erődök Városa SE
TRIATHLON
Based on the information provided by the international association on July 8, our country obtained a starting right in the sport, which was awarded to Bence Mocsári. After Rio and Tokyo - where Péter Boronkay and then Petra Lévay represented the national colors - we will once again have a triathlete at the Paralympics. Bence Mocsári was born with an elbow joint disorder that affected his left arm. Watching the 2012 London Games, he decided to become a Paralympic champion. He first started swimming and then triathlons in 2018. In 2019, he won the European Championship in aquatlon and in 2021 the World Championship in duathlon in Marosvásárhely. In paratriathlon competitions, he achieved his best result so far last year, a fourth place at the World Championships in Spain. In addition, he has collected numerous World Cup medals and championships over the years, most recently on July 14 he was able to stand on the highest step of the podium in Tata.
The Hungarian competitor: Bence Mocsári (PSN Zrt.)
SWIMMING
Swimming is our country's most successful Paralympic sport so far, 83 of the 160 Hungarian medals won in the history of the Paralympics were won by paraswimmers. The current generation is also extremely successful: Paralympic champions Bianka Pap and Zsófia Konkoly - having collected a total of four gold, one silver and one bronze medal - have already secured their place in Paris at the World Championships in Manchester in August 2023. After their excellent performance in the later competitions and the escape of the level times, our paraswimmers - Illés Fanni, Száraz Evelin, Adámi-Rózsa Zsanett Hotz Csenge and Iván Bence - won five more national quotas for our country in February 2024. With this, the paraswimmers can come to Paris with the largest number of seven-person delegations.
The Hungarian competitors: Zsanett Adámi-Rózsa (UTE), Hotz Csenge (PVM SK), Illés Fanni (Vasas), Iván Bence (PSN Zrt.), Zsófia Konkoly (PSN Zrt.), Bianka Pap (Vasas), Evelin Száraz ( iron)
Source: MTI / Mandiner
Cover photo: The world champion Szvitacs Alexa wants to wade through everyone in Paris too! Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák
